Hey guys, i'm lookin for someone who really knows how to read engine compression results to give me a few pointers.

Cylinder: 1 2 3 4
PSI 194 161 141 194

then i added probably a teaspoon of oil to the # 2 & 3 cylinders

PSI - 190 210 -

Also looking into the spark plug holes, numbers 2 and 3 had some carbon deposits, more so than 1 and 4. Especially 3, which i attribute the high pressure after adding the oil. The number 3 spark plug hole is very oily all the up and down the hole. This might have been due to the loose spark plug described later, but the valve cover seal around the #3 hole also looks worn compared to the other 3.

So at first I thought it might've been a head gastet blown between 2 and 3, but when i added the oil the pressure came back up which makes me think rings.

Some info on my car: 98 LS 60k miles, burns 1 qt every 5k. No coolant leaks or at least none noticable. When i bought the car, it was from a saturn dealership and i don't think they really knew how to tune it up. When i went to change the spark plugs to platinums, the #3 cyl was finger loose, more than a full turn out from the head. Also, i was hearing ticking from the engine at idle and pulled the head off and it turns out my tolerances between the cams and cam followers were way high.

Also, I have a turbo kit that i was planning on putting on, but i'd be interested to hear input on that too.

 

i would have said blown head gasket between 2 and 3 cylinders, but since the psi shot up with oil added and there are carbon deposits i'm gonna say you need to rebuild the bottom end. If coolant were leaking into 2 & 3 then the cylinders would be clean. Oil in the spark plug hole is just the valve cover gasket - nothing serious.

 

Be warned, the loose spark plug is an age old trick of scammer car dealerships. Sometimes when a car has ring/headgasket problems, the scammer mechanic will loosen the sparkplug to relieve compression...the problem disappears...until you just found it. I hope this isn't the case, but you'll have to pull the head to see what's going on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Boondock Saint &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Be warned, the loose spark plug is an age old trick of scammer car dealerships.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I bought it from a saturn dealership... so I tend to doubt thats the case, but then again anything's possible.